User testing a title getting ready for the launch is a really tough and truly an eye opening experience. Every single time. You’ve constructed all these really simple, educating and fun levels just
to realize that players don’t play the game as they were ‘supposed to’. To ensure that your game is played like it is supposed to you need to have a killer first time flow.

First time flow hooks the players and teaches them the core loop of the game. Most importantly, you have to kill it with the first time flow because if it sucks all the content done for the later
levels will be left untouched.

After a day spent with user tests, here are my points for a killer first time flow:

1. Start off with a story

Call me old fashioned but I really like a story to my games. It just give that certain something to the whole game. A meaning instead of a mindless activity. The story can be told with a single
image, cartoon or a video. As long as it’s not a text, I’m cool with it.

2. Image = 1000 words

You should always show players how to play the game instead of telling it to them. George Fan, creator of Plants vs. Zombies believes in using only two words when needed and goes up to 8 words on rare occasions (10 tutorial tips from Plants vs. Zombies creator George Fan). So stop writing instructions. Nobody reads them!

3. 1 teach mission = 2.5 do missions

Essentially first time flows are all about showing how cool and awesome your game is and will be if the player just continues playing. But on the other side first time flows are also about teaching your players how to play the game… and teaching is the part where it tends to go wrong.

Most common mistake is to over teach. You know, when you’re bombarded with popups, spotlights and texts right from the start. To avoid this you just need to simply cut the things you want to teach the player on their first time flow and leave it to later levels.

My rule of thumb is to have a conversion rate of 2.5 between teaching and doing. For example (picture below) if I want to teach the player to shoot, I’ll start of with a level/mission where player is taught how to shoot with a spotlight, a floating text and an arrow or two. Then I will follow up the teaching level/mission with 2 – 3 (depending on event data and user tests) following levels/missions where players have to do what they are told to but without any hints. After the follow-up missions I’d go and teach another element of the game and follow it up again with 2 – 3
levels/missions where players don’t get any instructions and just do what they were just taught. Or in case it is a complementary skill, say reloading a gun, you can have only one teaching mission followed by a combination mission, where players have to do what they were just taught to do plus what they were doing beforehand.

One teaching level followed by 2 – 3 doing levels followed by an another teaching level and a combination level.

4. Stars

Stars are often used just to show how well players did on a particular level and to challenge them to best the level with a perfect performance. Now this challenge to perfection is a great thing,
but it’s not the only way you can use stars.

Stars are great for keeping your funnel in check and keeping even those not-so-good players progressing from one level to another. What you need to do is make the 1 star performance really truly easy (at least during the first dozens of levels/missions) just to ensure that players don’t drop off because the game is too hard for them. At the same time those good-players can be challenged to perfect their performance by getting 3 stars.

In other words, star system should be tied with level design so that levels don’t block the progress of unexperienced players while providing a true challenge for the experienced players.

Want an example?

Check out Bike Baron or Cut the Rope case on the bottom of this page

5. Event data

And finally make sure you’re collecting the right event data. Knowing when, how and how many complete levels/missions is essential for a successful first time flow. There’s always room to improve the first time flow and numbers is what you need to get there. Plus you’ll avoid all the discussion about how people ‘feel’ the game is played and what they ‘think’ might be the problem. Numbers.

Give ‘em numbers!

Case: Cut the Rope

I love the way Zeptolab’s Cut the rope teaches and hooks players with the first level pack of 25 awesome levels. They start off with a nice quick animation of Om Nom (green main character) being left in a box in front of the professors door and after this 3 second long story introduction player is set off.

The first level is simple instructive level where player learn how to cut the rope and gets 3 stars. The second level is just a bit harder introducing multiple ropes and challenging player to get 3
stars. And it goes like this till level 5 where a new element, bubble, is introduced. After introducing the bubble there are 4 follow up missions with little to none instructions till a new feature
is introduced once again.

What’s best about Cut the Rope’s progress is the way they use the star system. It’s really easy to get the one star and progress to the next level, so there are no progression blocks. At the same time the game challenges you to come up with a way to get all of the 3 stars.

Check out the progression flow below and try the game on a browser: http://www.cuttherope.ie/

The first four levels are just simple cutting of the rope. Fifth level introduces the bubbles. Tenth level mixes it up by introducing automatic ropes.

Twelfth level introduces stretched ropes while on sixteenth level player encounters the spikes for the first time. Twentieth level teaches player to cut several ropes with one brush.

Twenty-second level teaches the multi-touch. Twenty-fifth level is easy one and basically guarantees a three star ending.